VILLA’S small squad size was highlighted when the club registered just 22 of the 25 permitted senior players with the Premier League yesterday.

Clubs are allowed to name up to 25 for top-flight duty under new rules following the closure of the transfer window on Tuesday evening.

But under the regulations Villa’s first-team party can be supplemented by a host of under-21 players, who do not have to be included in the main squad.

The ruling was brought in to prevent Premier League clubs having large numbers of unused players and some clubs, like Manchester City, have struggled to cut their squads down to 25.

Villa had no such problems and already subscribe to the homegrown player philosophy which the new directive is striving to encourage.

The senior 25-man squads must include eight ‘home-grown’ players, who do not have to be English, but must have been affiliated to the FA or Welsh FA for three seasons or 36 months before their 21st birthday.

Marc Albrighton, Nathan Delfouneso, Barry Bannan and Ciaran Clark, who have all played for the senior side this season, are in the additional list of youngsters, along with Fabian Delph.

Villa’s senior squad includes midfielders Isaiah Osbourne and Moustapha Salifou, who have barely played in the last few seasons, along with over-21 academy graduates Eric Lichaj and Jonathan Hogg, who made their competitive debuts last month.

Stephen Ireland is the only new arrival during the summer after being an £8 million makeweight in the £26 million deal that took James Milner to Manchester City.

Players loaned to Football League clubs cannot be replaced in the squads, but can regain their spot on return to parent club. The rules apply only to Premier League matches, not FA Cup or League Cup action.

Changes can be made to the squad when the transfer window reopens in January.